He certainly would have been good with his talent as would nadal but you have to consider that the talent pool in soccer is way larger. A tennis career from age 5-18 costs more than half a million dollars (coaches, travel...) so it is still a rich mens sport.

and we all know that most superior athletes come from a poor background (like all the runners, basketball and football players...). this is because there are more of them but also because they have more need to succeed. probably there are a lot of soccer players out there who would have the talent to be better tennis players then fed and nadal.

Maybe fed would have been as good as messi but the chance is equally high that he would only be a bench striker in some first league club. I'm not sure if his speed is enough to be as good as messi or ronaldo. he is super quick and moves great but we would need to see how fast he is in a 60 feet sprint.

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Tennis is a far more difficult sport, both technically and physically, than football.
You have to put in vastly more hours of practice to achieve top level success.
When you look at top class tennis players, the skill and cosistency is simply mind boggling.
Far more people play football but you can get away with a lot less skill and dedication.
The likes of Federer, Murray and Nadal would find it much easier to change careers and slot into top class football.
A top footballer would have absolutely no chance of slotting into tennis.

Zidane and Ronaldo are pretty close. Both were legends. They're missed, but Zizou was a bit better I think. Ronaldo was unlucky with injuries, if not maybe he would have been one of the 2 or 3 best players ever.

Messi is better than real Ronaldo, when did Ronaldo ever score 80 goals in a calender year? Plus Messi is a far better all round footballer in terms of dribbling, passing etc.

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They're close. Both are clearly better than Cristiano Ronaldo though.

When things are done Messi's career will be a lot better than Ronaldo's, but the brazilizan was very unlucky with injuries. He had a thousand different injuries and was out of the game for long periods of time. In terms of dribbling and passing they're close imo. Ronaldo in PSV and Barcelona was a machine.

Messi would have been another Ferrer or Hewitt if he chose to play tennis. You need more than just a fancy footwork to dominate tennis. Will Messi have Sampras serve or Federer forehand if he plays tennis? I doubt it. These two sports are vastly different that it is impossible to compare.

Tennis is a far more difficult sport, both technically and physically, than football.
You have to put in vastly more hours of practice to achieve top level success.
When you look at top class tennis players, the skill and cosistency is simply mind boggling.
Far more people play football but you can get away with a lot less skill and dedication.
The likes of Federer, Murray and Nadal would find it much easier to change careers and slot into top class football.
A top footballer would have absolutely no chance of slotting into tennis.

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snooker is also more difficult than soccer but that doesn't mean it is harder to reach the top.

the opposite is true: a more difficult sport means that the technical education plays a big role which eliminates a lot of talent from the talent pool because of mediocre coaching. who knows how good some soccer players would have been had he had exactly the same technical education that fed received.

the same is true in baseball. it is technically very difficult so a lot of guys "from the hood" will not make it while in football and to some extend basketball the most gifted athletes usually succeed.

snooker is also more difficult than soccer but that doesn't mean it is harder to reach the top.

the opposite is true: a more difficult sport means that the technical education plays a big role which eliminates a lot of talent from the talent pool because of mediocre coaching. who knows how good some soccer players would have been had he had exactly the same technical education that fed received.

the same is true in baseball. it is technically very difficult so a lot of guys "from the hood" will not make it while in football and to some extend basketball the most gifted athletes usually succeed.

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Try to find a baseball diamond in the hood. Or find a kid who ever played basball. May be surprised how early some kids start football or basketball when their parents or family members play. 2-3 yo

Tennis is a far more difficult sport, both technically and physically, than football.
You have to put in vastly more hours of practice to achieve top level success.
When you look at top class tennis players, the skill and cosistency is simply mind boggling.
Far more people play football but you can get away with a lot less skill and dedication.
The likes of Federer, Murray and Nadal would find it much easier to change careers and slot into top class football.
A top footballer would have absolutely no chance of slotting into tennis.

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Sorry dude, there is no more difficult sport to succeed at then soccer/football. It has nothing to do with what you deem as being more difficult. It has everything to do with the size of the pool you have to contend with. Soccer is far and away the largest sport on the planet with nearly all of the 6 billion people on earth playing it at one time or another. No other sport even comes close.

Sorry dude, there is no more difficult sport to succeed at then soccer/football. It has nothing to do with what you deem as being more difficult. It has everything to do with the size of the pool you have to contend with. Soccer is far and away the largest sport on the planet with nearly all of the 6 billion people on earth playing it at one time or another. No other sport even comes close.

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Agreed. It is scary how good kids even in the poorest parts of the world are at soccer.

Agreed. It is scary how good kids even in the poorest parts of the world are at soccer.

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Yeah and lol at tennis taking more of a time commitment to achieve success. If you want to be a top footballer then you better be kicking the ball around for like 3+ hours a day starting when you learn to walk or you have no chance.

Yeah and lol at tennis taking more of a time commitment to achieve success. If you want to be a top footballer then you better be kicking the ball around for like 3+ hours a day starting when you learn to walk or you have no chance.

Well no one was expecting a Swiss tennis prodigy tobecome the best ever but it happened

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Much different. When you factor in the ability of the poorest nations to still produce top class footballers, the job for small, wealthy nations like Switzerland to produce world class players becomes much harder.

Messi playing tennis would be good enough to be top 100, while Federer playing soccer would probably amount to nothing. The amount of kids playing soccer are much larger than the number of kids playing tennis.

The French player Yoann Gourcuff excelled at both football and tennis when he was a kid, but ultimately chose a career in football instead.

He still plays tennis on a recreational basis nowadays, and attends tournaments in France whenever he can.

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there is also an english junior who is very good at tennis and basketball (I think national team in both). I don't know his name but he is a very athletic black dude with a little unorthodox tennis technique.

BTW I think ronaldo would be a better tennis prospect than messi. he is not as good in soccer but he is like 6"2 and very powerfull and strong.

snooker is also more difficult than soccer but that doesn't mean it is harder to reach the top.

the opposite is true: a more difficult sport means that the technical education plays a big role which eliminates a lot of talent from the talent pool because of mediocre coaching. who knows how good some soccer players would have been had he had exactly the same technical education that fed received.

the same is true in baseball. it is technically very difficult so a lot of guys "from the hood" will not make it while in football and to some extend basketball the most gifted athletes usually succeed.

Sorry dude, there is no more difficult sport to succeed at then soccer/football. It has nothing to do with what you deem as being more difficult. It has everything to do with the size of the pool you have to contend with. Soccer is far and away the largest sport on the planet with nearly all of the 6 billion people on earth playing it at one time or another. No other sport even comes close.

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It's not as simple as you think.
Nearly everyone has also played tennis.
Difference is if you are average at tennis and try it for the first time it stands out a mile because you're flunking all the shots. Not so football.
Someone who can pick up a racket and immediately hit very well will be spotted and nurtured straight away because it's so rare it's lke winning the lottery.
If you take snooker, when Stephen Hendry first picked up a cue at age 12 he was potting nearly everything and very quickly making centuries even though he could hardly reach the table! At the same time, millions of kids around Britain were trying their hand at snooker and Hendry was only amongst a handful who could do that. The other millions of kids got fed up with the difficulty of snooker and stuck with something else far easier like football.
Everyone (maybe excluding the USA) has tried their hand at snooker and tennis, and if we started potting and hitting everything in sight on our first few attempts it would be far more obvious there is a huge natural talent to be pursued.
On that basis I maintain the talent pool for tennis is as strong if not stronger because someone who is gifted here, stands out so greatly, they are very likely to be pushed into that sport.
Federer, Murray and Nadal were all gifted footballers (Murray was a signing target for Rangers) but they were all guided into tennis.
If any of the top footballers had shown a great natural ability for tennis, I believe, the chances are they would be playing tennis instead of football.
And I'm sure they have all tried their hand at tennis.

If any of the top footballers had shown a great natural ability for tennis, I believe, the chances are they would be playing tennis instead of football.
And I'm sure they have all tried their hand at tennis.

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You actually believe the kids all over the world playing barefooted in the streets or on dirt fields with a homemade ball also have access to tennis?

Federer can be a great soccer player but to expect him to be as great as Messi is highly unlikely, let alone better. And Messi wouldn't be a great tennis player(too small) had he chose to play tennis. They both are great in their own sport, however, Federer is more dominant in tennis than Messi is in soccer. Very few athletes were more dominant than Federer(ie Gretzky, Rice)

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Football is a team sports.it is a big difference.

Messi has never won the WC.Why? because his national team sucks.Imagine federer´s greatness was decided by the Switzerland´s national team in a team sports...

Messi has never won the WC.Why? because his national team sucks.Imagine federer´s greatness was decided by the Switzerland´s national team in a team sports...

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Exactly. That's why I laugh when some people actually uses that argument to downgrade Messi's career (that he never achieved something with Argentina). Argentina's national team was a disaster since 2008 untill last year, which were Messi's best years. Last year with a new coach which is not even a great coach, but he is at least acceptable (unlike the previous ones) Messi started playing a lot better (scored 14 goals in the last 14 matches with Argentina) and the team is doing a lot better.

Messi has never won the WC.Why? because his national team sucks.Imagine federer´s greatness was decided by the Switzerland´s national team in a team sports...

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Argentina are consistently among the strongest teams in the world and have been for a while. 2002 they were easily one of the pre tournament favorites for the World cup, but lost in group stages (2002 world cup overall the favorites failed to deliver, though Italy and Spain got absolutely f****d by the refs against hosts South Korea, and Brazil sort of found their groove). 2006 they lost to the host Germany in a penalty shootout (Germany's unbeatable under this scenario, I don't think they've ever lost a penalty shootout). They have consistently had great teams, but failed to capitalize in the last decade (sort of like pre 2008 Spain with the exception of their Euro win in the 60s). Honestly I can't remember a weak Argentina team relatively speaking ever since I started watching football. They've always had a stacked squad.

Argentina are consistently among the strongest teams in the world and have been for a while. 2002 they were easily one of the pre tournament favorites for the World cup, but lost in group stages (2002 world cup overall the favorites failed to deliver, though Italy and Spain got absolutely f****d by the refs against hosts South Korea, and Brazil sort of found their groove). 2006 they lost to the host Germany in a penalty shootout (Germany's unbeatable under this scenario, I don't think they've ever lost a penalty shootout). They have consistently had great teams, but failed to capitalize in the last decade (sort of like pre 2008 Spain with the exception of their Euro win in the 60s). Honestly I can't remember a weak Argentina team relatively speaking ever since I started watching football. They've always had a stacked squad.

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From 2008 to 2011 Argentina was a disaster. The team couldn't keep the ball for more than 40 seconds and maybe wouldn't create a goal opportunity in a whole match having despite having world class players in almost every position. We could barely make it to the WC in the last qualyfing match with a goal in the last minute against Peru (probably the weakest team in South America) playing at home. Against Germany we were destroyed.

In 2006 there was a good team, but Messi was incredibly left out of the team against Germany when, as you said, Germany defeated us in the penalty shoot-out. Now the team is becoming stronger again, and Messi is being the best player by far. The next world cup could be a key tournament for him to establish himself as the best ever.

Argentina are consistently among the strongest teams in the world and have been for a while. 2002 they were easily one of the pre tournament favorites for the World cup, but lost in group stages (2002 world cup overall the favorites failed to deliver, though Italy and Spain got absolutely f****d by the refs against hosts South Korea, and Brazil sort of found their groove). 2006 they lost to the host Germany in a penalty shootout (Germany's unbeatable under this scenario, I don't think they've ever lost a penalty shootout). They have consistently had great teams, but failed to capitalize in the last decade (sort of like pre 2008 Spain with the exception of their Euro win in the 60s). Honestly I can't remember a weak Argentina team relatively speaking ever since I started watching football. They've always had a stacked squad.

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They are a fake.Lots of talent. I agree, but like Netherlands, when they should win they never do.A psico case, there.

Messi wins almost everything when he is well surrounded, like Barcelona team.

The 1978 Kempes led and the 1986 Maradona led team had much less talent than current Argentinian team, with only 2-3 other great player to go with Marito and Diego.But they won, because they were mental titans.Current group looks like a bunch of born losers.

From 2008 to 2011 Argentina was a disaster. The team couldn't keep the ball for more than 40 seconds and maybe wouldn't create a goal opportunity in a whole match having despite having world class players in almost every position. We could barely make it to the WC in the last qualyfing match with a goal in the last minute against Peru (probably the weakest team in South America) playing at home. Against Germany we were destroyed.

In 2006 there was a good team, but Messi was incredibly left out of the team against Germany when, as you said, Germany defeated us in the penalty shoot-out. Now the team is becoming stronger again, and Messi is being the best player by far. The next world cup could be a key tournament for him to establish himself as the best ever.

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As I said, current team is a gang band.More talented, even much more talented than the 78 and 86 teams.But those teams followed their leader to death (Kempes and Maradona) and the current one, just sucks.Messi plays alone there.If they don´t change mentality, another big fail is at stake in the 2014 WC.

Messi did play very well at the 2007 Copa America so he has delivered at a big tournament. In particular he was outstanding in the semi-final against Mexico and scored a stunning goal. He also had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside in the final, and was one of Argentina's better players as they were counter-attacked to death by Dunga's Brazil.

At the last world cup, despite being double marked in every game, he still created a lot of goals for Argentina, and so he didn't play that badly at all. How many goals would Higuain have scored at that tournament had it not been for Messi.

He was poor at the last Copa America though no doubt about that, as was the whole team.

It's not as simple as you think.Nearly everyone has also played tennis.
Difference is if you are average at tennis and try it for the first time it stands out a mile because you're flunking all the shots. Not so football.
Someone who can pick up a racket and immediately hit very well will be spotted and nurtured straight away because it's so rare it's lke winning the lottery.
If you take snooker, when Stephen Hendry first picked up a cue at age 12 he was potting nearly everything and very quickly making centuries even though he could hardly reach the table! At the same time, millions of kids around Britain were trying their hand at snooker and Hendry was only amongst a handful who could do that. The other millions of kids got fed up with the difficulty of snooker and stuck with something else far easier like football.
Everyone (maybe excluding the USA) has tried their hand at snooker and tennis, and if we started potting and hitting everything in sight on our first few attempts it would be far more obvious there is a huge natural talent to be pursued.
On that basis I maintain the talent pool for tennis is as strong if not stronger because someone who is gifted here, stands out so greatly, they are very likely to be pushed into that sport.
Federer, Murray and Nadal were all gifted footballers (Murray was a signing target for Rangers) but they were all guided into tennis.
If any of the top footballers had shown a great natural ability for tennis, I believe, the chances are they would be playing tennis instead of football.
And I'm sure they have all tried their hand at tennis.

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LOL stopped reading right there. If you think the # of people who have had the opportunity to play tennis is anywhere near the # of people who have had the opportunity to play soccer then you are beyond reason sir.

Messi has never won the WC.Why? because his national team sucks.Imagine federer´s greatness was decided by the Switzerland´s national team in a team sports...

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No one can say Argentina sucks! I have been watching Football from 1986 World cup and I have never seen an Argentina team that sucks..

You need a player with vision to pick Messi when he makes those quick runs with the ball. Bracelona has players who can read him, guys like Xavi and Iniesta. Argentina doesn't have a creative play maker now. Argentina certainly has lots of firepower in attack, Higuain, Tevez etc

Regarding Messi: Watch Messi play with Barcelona vs him playing with Argentina.

Example: 3 consecutive Ballon d'Ors, yet failed massively at both the World Cup and the Copa America.

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Hummm...thats not right at all,

messi played well in the bit of the 2006 world cup finals he played in..scoring his only wc finals goal so far (he was coming back off a recurring thigh injury at that time that meant he missed the end of la liga season and barcelona's champions league win vs arsenal)..the coach unbelievably left messi out as an unused sub in 2nd round vs mexico, when he should have started him and argentina lost AET ON PENS.

he had an excellent all round copa america in 2007 scoring three goals..argentina lost in the final to brazil.

messi played amazing at world cup 2010 despite not scoring he was in barcelona mode doing what he wanted with the ball..being the main reason for argentina getting to the qf...although i have to say he didnt do much in the qf vs germany..but that was also because of maradona and his crazy selection policy destroying his own team.

i cant comment on messi or argentina in copa america 2011 as i didnt see any matches but all acounts argentina played poorly.

messi is now captain of argentina at 25..the goals are flowing 31 i think, and he recently scored a hat-trick vs brazil which is always impressive.

Regarding Messi: Watch Messi play with Barcelona vs him playing with Argentina.

Example: 3 consecutive Ballon d'Ors, yet failed massively at both the World Cup and the Copa America.

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He should be at 2 Ballon D'ors. Wesley Sneijder was robbed the year he catapulted Inter Milan (merdazuri) to 1st champions league glory in like 40 years while also carrying Netherlands to world cup final. Best player that year without a doubt